Menopause
Medically “untreated” woman
Medically “treated” woman
The medical view of Menopause is that is a deficiency disease.
Menopause is listed in the MIMS Disease Index on page 303:
“The menopause occurs when women run out of viable ova or have their
ovaries removed or damaged at surgery. In either case, the production
of oestrogen, progesterone and androgens from the ovary is reduced
below the level necessary to maintain good cellular responses. In those
women who pass the menopause and enter a sex hormone deficient
state, the ensuing problems can be numerous and include both short
and long-term cellular malfunction. Long-term dysfunction ultimately
leads to profound and irreversible damage to the total organism
In Australia, there are about 2,300.000 women who are postmenopausal,
with about 80,000 new cases occurring every year. It is by far the most
common hormone deficient condition in the world and is the one which
up till now has been treated least effectively by the medical profession
or else ignored as being a ‘natural event’”.
This ‘lamentable condition’, menopause, which ‘afflicts’ women in great numbers, is
treated by medicos using oestrogen and progestogens.
“Natural therapists view menopause as a normal transition. Menarche, menstruation and
menopause are seen as normal phases which effect women in their passage through life,
and which may need supportive treatment. Rather than encouraging mid-life women to
believe they have a disease, most natural therapists (and many like-minded doctors)
encourage menopausal women to adopt positive lifestyle changes, good eating patterns and
a positive attitude to this phase. Researchers in one study found that the well being of midlife women was related to being physically well, exercising moderately, having a positive
attitude to menopause and feeling happy. Exercising, even once per week, was associated
with fewer symptoms, as were positive relationships and friendships. Hormonal status was
not the relevant feature of a positive menopausal experience” (Trickey 1998:134, 135).
MENOPAUSE
General Information
Definition:
The cessation of the menstrual cycle in women, normally between the age of 48 and 52
years. Some women have been known to enter menopause in their twenties and thirties due
to hormonal irregularities. Also a woman, who has had a surgical procedure where the
ovaries have been removed, will also enter her menopausal phase. The length of this
hormonal change is very dependent on the woman’s physiology and fertility pattern.
Variables such as race, hereditary, health status, diet and level of physical activity may
influence the way each woman experiences menopause.
The total number of follicles and eggs in a woman’s body decrease throughout her life due to
ovulation and atresia. As the female approaches menopause, the number of follicles further
decreases, causing a decrease in the amount of ovarian oestrogen produced. The lowered
oestrogen levels are not sufficient to signal the brain to stop producing FSH and so FSH
(levels normally >100U/l) continues to be released causing rapid and inadequate follicular
development. With fewer and fewer follicles remaining, oestrogen production continues to
drop. Insufficient oestrogen is produced regularly to induce the LH surge necessary for
ovulation. As ovulation ceases completely, the levels of both FSH and LH rise significantly.
A postmenopausal woman is not without oestrogen completely,. Oestrogen levels in her
body can no longer support the fertility cycle but they are adequate for the maintenance and
support of tissues. The type of oestrogen changes in postmenopausal women to estrone
whereas pre menopausal oestrogen is mainly oestradiol.
Signs & Symptoms
 Hot flushes
Hot flashes are a normal bodily change associated with the transition between the menstrual
years and menopause. Hot flushes can be a great way for the body to cleanse itself.
Thinner women are more likely to experience hot flushes than their larger counterparts due
to the rapid depletion of oestrogen (due to reduced fat stores of oestrogen in the body)
Ovaries no longer respond to FSH from the pituitary. The result is that the hypothalamus
raises its production of GnRH and its “voltage”. Finally the electric excitation spills over to
affect an adjacent limbic nucleus involved in temperature control, causing a reaction, which
produces rapid temperature changes in the body. The capillaries are affected by consequent
chemical or hormonal changes, which take place in the tissues causing them to dilate and
the nerves to be highly reactive.
In most women hot flushes are at their most intense during the last year or so before
menstruation ceases and during the first year or so afterwards
75% of women will experience some degree of hot flushes.
In Indonesia and Japan, women experience very few hot flushes, compared to women in
Western societies. They have a diet high in plant sterols with high levels of oestriol – the
good guy oestrogen that is very protective.
HRT does not “cure” hot flushes – it merely delays the inevitable
Contributing factors to hot flushes –cigarette smoking, allergies, caffeine, hot spicy food,
untreated diabetes
Difficulty breathing
Irritability
Fatigue, vertigo, general decline in physical and mental ability
Anxiety
 Nervousness, mood changes, depression without reason
 Osteoporosis
 Insomnia
 Palpitations
 Vaginal dryness
 Poor memory and concentration
 Muscle and joint aches backaches, breast tenderness
 Formication
 Headaches
 Increased urination and dysuria
 Hirsutism
 Obesity, nausea and bleeding
 Dry and rapid aging of skin
 Loss of libido or increased libido
EFFECTS OF PROGESTERONE
Increases libido
Prevents cancer of the womb
Protects against fibrocystic breast disease
Helps protect against breast cancer
Maintains the lining of the uterus
Stimulates the building of new bone
Strengthens skin
Is a natural diuretic
Anti-depressant
Encourages fat burning and the use of stored
energy
Normalises blood clotting
Concerned with procreation and survival of the
foetus
Precursor to important stress hormones
EFFECTS OF OESTROGEN
Decreases libido
Increases risk of womb cancer
Stimulates breast cell activity
Increases risk of breast cancer
Proliferates the lining of the uterus
Slows down the resorption of old bone
Thins skin
Encourages salt and water retention
Can produce headaches and depression
Lays down fat stores
Increases blood clotting
Concerned with the development and release of
the egg
End-molecule steroids
Osteoporosis
Definition:
A generalised, progressive diminution in bone tissue mass per unit volume, causing skeletal
weakness even though the ration of mineral to organic elements is unchanged in the
remaining morphologically normal bone. Histologically there is a reduction in cortical
thickness and in the number and size of trabeculae of cancellous bone, with normal width of
osteoid seams. Bone resorption is increased; bone formation appears to be normal Note: Xrays f bone are normally useless as bone loss cannot be reliably picked up until there has
been a change of up to 30%. A more accurate test is dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
(DXA) where low dose X-rays are used of by using single photon absorptiometry where light
is passed through the skin. The energy that is lost when photon beams pass through the
body is then calculated by a machine to give an accurate reading of bone density.
Signs and symptoms
Severe backache
Decrease in height
Spontaneous fractures of the hip and vertebrae
Osteoporosis is a disorder of calcium metabolism, not the absence of calcium. Black women
have less bone loss than white women. Big women have less bone loss than small women.
Overweight women have less bone loss than thin women. Meat eaters area at greater risk
than vegetarians. People in third world countries whose dietary calcium intake is less than
half our own have a very low incidence of this disease. Users of prescription drugs
(methotrexate, corticosteroids, cimetidine) have a higher incidence of osteoporosis.
Sedentary people have a higher incidence of this condition than those who obtain regular
exercise. Taking high doses of calcium supplements can create unwanted kidney stones.
The process of calcium absorption
The absorption of calcium from water or mineral salts tends to be highly inefficient. Only
somewhere between 20 and 30% of the calcium taken via processed foods will actually be
absorbed. Most of it gets filtered via the kidneys and then excreted in sweat and urine.
Weight bearing exercise can increase the rate of calcium absorption. The smaller the supply
of calcium available from foods ant the greater the need, the body efficient calcium
absorption becomes. When large quantities of calcium are available, the resorption of
calcium is less. In the US where the consumption of calcium supplements and milk is the
highest in the world, the incidence of osteoporosis is also the highest.
Calcium needs an acid medium to be absorbed. Calcium needs Vitamin D to be absorbed,
as well as parathyroid hormone, which regulates the level of calcium in the blood. An
adequate supply of the right kind of fat also facilitates the absorption of calcium.
Phosphorous in the diet is essential to build bone. Calcium to phosphorous ratio is 2.5:1.
Taking drugs such as laxatives, diuretics, antacids and tetracyclines can impede calcium
absorption. Coffee antagonises the absorption of calcium.
Magnesium – need sufficient magnesium for calcium absorption. Excess meat protein in the
diet will draw calcium out of bones, as the body attempts to neutralise the acidic protein
waste products. Eskimos whose traditional diet was high in protein and high in calcium had
the highest rate of osteoporosis of any group of people. By contrast the Bantu in Africa, who
consume very little meat protein and less than 400 mg of calcium a day (often from plant
sources)-remain totally free from osteoporosis. They also get plenty of exercise. Boron has
also been implicated in the efficient absorption of calcium. Fluoridated water provides
fluoride, which gives a new bone structure, which is of poor quality, highly brittle and makes
bones more prone to breakage.
General dietary recommendations
Reduction of alcohol
Eliminate smoking
Adequate protein intake
Elimination of the use of antacids that contain aluminium as they disrupt the normal
calcium/phosphorous interaction
Reduction of intake of processed meats and colas, which are high in phosphorous and leach
calcium from bones
Reduce refined foods.
Diet has a direct influence on menopausal symptoms and is believed to contribute to the
marked differences in symptoms experienced by women form other cultures, especially hot
flushes. Changing dietary intake of various foods containing natural oestrogens (Phytooestrogens) reduces hot flushes and symptoms associated with vaginal dryness.
Calcium rich foods
Amount per cupful
Spinach
300mg
Bone makers
Pak
choy magnesium
200 mg
Adequate
Broccoli
mg and trace elements
Alfalfa and barley – high in175
minerals
Chick
peas
150
mg
Boron
Agar agar
400from
mg food sources)
Calcium
in moderation (best
Almonds
Leafy
green vegetables 300 mg
Brazil nutsprotein diet
260 mg
Moderate
Tofu
100
mg
Plant sterols – Soya based
foods
Cheese
200 mg per
25g
Sea
plants and green supplements
– Spirulina,
green
algae
Milk and chlorella
300 mg
Silica
Blackstrap molasses
140mg/tbsp
Sunlight
and
vitamin
D
Spirulina
30mg/cup
Vegetarian
diet-balance to295
provid sufficient protein
Non fat yoghurt
Vitamin
Tahini C
120mg per 14g
Weight
Kelp training
300
Whole grains
Wholefoods
Zinc
Bone Breakers
Processed convenience foods and
junk fats
Diuretics and antibiotics
Crash dieting
Deficiencies in minerals and trace
elements
Smoking
Soft drinks including diet colas
Salt
Inadequate protein
High saturated fat diet
Sedentary lifestyle
Coffee and alcohol
Sugar
Antacids which contain aluminium